Johnny Carson's Second Wife Denies Alleged Affair With Frank Gifford

October 09, 2013 06:13:39 GMT

Joanne Copeland denies revelations made by Carson's lawyer that she cheated on Carson with Gifford.

In a new tell-all book, Henry Bushkin, a lawyer who worked with beloved TV talk show host Johnny Carson, suggested that the comedian's second wife Joanne Copeland cheated on him with then-football player and also very much married Frank Gifford. Bushkin claimed that he helped Carson break into Copeland's secret Manhattan apartment over suspicions that she was having an affair, later seeing the place filled with pictures of the Giants star player.

However, Copeland, who was married to Carson from the years 1963 to 1972, denied the allegations, saying Bushkin's story was completely false. "He (Bushkin) should release it under fiction," recommended the now 81-year-old Copeland. She said, "I do know that Johnny was jealous of him (Gifford) because he knew that he had been a friend of mine."

Copeland even pointed out how flawed Bushkin's allegations were when he said, "I was shocked to see that Johnny was carrying a .38 revolver in a holster on his hip," in his Carson biography. "He was terrified of guns," revealed Copeland, adding that the supposed secret apartment actually belonged to her secretary.

As for Gifford, speaking up for him is his current wife, well-loved TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford, who has been with the sportscaster since 1986. Although she jokingly said that her husband was "capable of it, as you know," Kathie Lee simply dismissed the affair recounting how when she confronted her husband if he had an affair with Copeland, he just went, "I can't remember...maybe?"